DAYS LIKE THIS
by Melissa Rivers
(missy@lexicon.net)

Disclaimer: The characters that you recognise from Water Rats are the property of Southern Star and Hal McElroy and to the actors who so marvellously portray them. More than likely Channel 9 has some say in them too <g>

Many thanks to my patient and consistently supportive editor, Clotho, who edits my Rat stories for me even though she doesn't watch the show.

PART 1/?

Dark clouds swirled over the blue expanse of water, breaking the bright rays of the late March sunshine. Waves rolled against the man-made walls of Circular Quay, the white wash crashing gently against the wooden walls and the hulls of the docked ferries as they rocked in a synchronized dance with the water. The Quay was busy with people, the ferries off-loading passengers from the nearby suburban ports, heading off to work for another day.

Six year old Nicola Jarvis skipped her way down the street, heading away from the jostling sidewalk traffic, enjoying the sights that Sydney had to offer. She had never been to Sydney before and the water fascinated her, the way it rolled over itself, tripping and falling in white flashes. Her mother was watching her movements carefully, ready to call out a warning, if necessary, following slowly at a distance with a young baby in a pusher.

The morning was only just beginning and the young girl's dark eyes shone with merriment, her energy level at its fullest, primed after a good night's sleep and a wholesome breakfast. Abby Jarvis had given up on restraining her daughter's joyous dance, only calling out a stern warning for Nicola to keep away from the water's edge, mindful of the fact that she could not swim.

"Mum, that it?" Nicola pointed at the white, sail-like shells that stood at the end of the Quay, her black plaits swinging wildly around her dark face.

Abby just nodded, not about to yell in the same way as her daughter. Nicola started to pirouette her way down the last distance to the Opera House, her small body twisting rhythmically to an unheard song. Abby gave a grin, enjoying the happiness that was in her daughter's face, something which had been missing in the past couple of months. Abby's smile faded a little as she thought of her husband, Tony's, tragic and sudden death. It had hit Nicola hard, particularly the media coverage that had swept into their lives. Their recent move to Sydney's northern suburbs was a new start and if Nicola's face was anything to go by, it was a step in the right direction.

From the opposite site of the quay, a dark suited man watched the two of them. He dialed a familiar number on his mobile phone and relayed her movements to his boss.

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SYDNEY WATER POLICE STATION
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"VKG Sydney Water Police to Police Launch Nemesis, over" Senior Sergeant Helen Blakemore spoke clearly into the black receiver, her finger tapping the side as she waited for a response. The day was turning out to be slow, with only one complaint for the morning - which by nine o'clock was dead quiet. Too quiet for Helen's liking. Days like this always ended up producing a truck load of complicated investigations.

"This is Police Launch Nemesis."

"Gavin, I've got a report of a couple of speed boats causing trouble out near Macquarie Point. Can you go take a look?"

"Copy that. ETA seven minutes."

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ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS
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"Mum, I need to go to the toilet." Nicola raced up to her mother as she was bottle feeding her baby sister, Alisha.

"I wish you would have gone before when I asked," Abby responded, her eyes searching the area for any signs of a toilet block. "Can you hold on?"

"No. I really, really have to go." Nicola danced up and down on the spot, crossing her legs tightly, in an effort to consolidate her argument.

"Okay, Nic, we'll go find one." Placing Alisha back in the pusher, Abby put the bottle back in the baby's mouth, using a toy to balance the bottle on her chest, the baby's small fingers grasping the plastic bottle firmly, her mouth suctioning the teat eagerly. Abby knew it wouldn't last long before Alisha would get tired of this method and want to be back in her arms once again.

They located an old toilet block a few hundred yards away and Abby sent Nicola off on her own as Alisha's wails became demanding for her mother's arms. Watching her daughter trot off towards the old stone toilets, she glanced around at the surrounding area. She realised that it was in a quiet area of the gardens and hesitated. Before she had a chance to call out to Nicola, her daughter's small body disappeared around the corner of the stone toilet block. The trees rustled in the light breeze off the bay, a faint eucalyptus smell carried forth from the nearby gum trees.

Nicola ran to the toilet block, eager to get back to exploring the gardens further. An old mesh gate stood partly open, an old heavy brass lock dangling off a link chain that looped around the small bolt slide. The gate scraped lightly on the muddy ground, her white runners quickly turning brown in the wet soil. Nicola slipped inside gingerly. Her mother usually accompanied her to the toilet when they were out in public and the unusual lighting of the old stone building sent shivers down her spine. Her sneakered feet trampled over the smooth concrete, leaving a muddy trail behind. She turned the corner and stopped, frozen in her tracks. She wanted to run, to get away, but she just stared, her mouth dropping wide open at what she saw.

A small gasp escaped her trembling lips, alerting the crouched man to her presence. Menacing green eyes turned and met soft, chocolate brown ones, the disparity in colour matching the difference in their natures. His thin, wiry body was coiled like a spring over the body of a woman in her early twenties, his lower body pumping into her hard. A plastic bag was over the woman's head, a stocking gagging her mouth and her blue eyes bulged, almost popping out of their sockets, reminding her of the pug puppy her friend, Gabrielle, owned. Her hands and feet trussed up together behind her like a pig ready for roasting.

Nicola's shock was broken when her bladder released her urine at her feet, her socks and sneakers absorbing the acrid fluid. She turned and ran, ran for her life from the piercing gaze that stripped her down to her soul, robbing her of her innocence in those fleeting seconds.

It was the fastest run of her life to her mother, the red-gold hair framing her mother's face, like a halo in the midst of darkness - a terror of darkness which had taken over her mind. Flashes of a stocking gag, plastic bag and green eyes haunted her, chasing her up the hill.

"Gee Nicola, you'd reckon the devil was after you." Abby laughed at her daughter's terrified face, trying to relieve the fear she saw there. "Was it a bit dark in there?" Abby noticed that Nicola had actually wet her pants, but made no issue of it. She had no change of clothes for her and after Tony's death, Nicola had suffered nightmares and reverted to wetting the bed.

Nicola nodded, unable to say a word, to tell her mother of the unspeakable incident she had just witnessed.

"How about we head on home." Abby placed her sleeping baby into the pusher, covering her securely and putting away the empty bottle. "Would you like some McDonald's? They'd still have their breakfast menu going." Abby tried to tempt Nicola with her favourite take-away food. Nicola just shook her head, still unable to verbalise any words.

Abby was upset that the darkness had appeared to upset her daughter so much, the laughter that had been on her face as she headed on down the hill had vanished, as if the gentle breeze shifting the trees had snuffed out the joy like a flame on a candle.

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SYDNEY WATER POLICE STATION
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"You can't be serious?" Detective Senior Constable Alex St Clare commented to her partner as she followed him up the stairs to their offices on the first floor. "You are seriously dating that woman?"

"Alex, I never asked for your opinion." Detective Senior Constable Mick Reilly turned around on the stairs and faced Alex.

"She's a piranha. She'll eat you alive. Have you ever seen her interrogate a witness on the stand? She's the enemy, Mick." Alex's blue-grey eyes watched her partner, unsure of the territory she was stepping into, and more to the point, why she was doing it. Mick was old enough to look after himself.

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, Alex. And for the record, she is counsel for the defense, not a blood sucking vampire." Mick stormed off up the stairs and into the joint offices, shared with their boss, Detective Sergeant Jack Christey, who had overheard the entire argument and was grinning from ear to ear.

"Love is in the air," Jack commented, twirling his gold pen around on the tips of his fingers.

Mick slammed the case file he had in his hand down on the desk."Oh, shove it, Jack."

Jack laughed to himself. The pair had been dancing around each other for months now, Alex avoiding any chance of a close personal relationship with Mick. Once Mick had given up the chase, Alex had finally shown that she wasn't that disinterested after all. Especially, once she had learned the name of the woman Mick had been dating.

"Jack, Mick." Alex popped her head around the corner. "We've got a report of a body down in the water at Farm Cove. Same MO as the Winter's case."

Her last words sent a chill through the two detectives, both recalling the shocking details from the outstanding case from two months earlier. Their extensive investigation had yielded no trail of evidence.

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CIRCULAR QUAY
****************

Abby stood at the rear of the ferry, the wind tearing red-gold strands of hair from the silver clasp holding her curly hair out of her face. The salt air was drying her pale skin and she was sure she would have a faint pink glow of sunburn that night. Alisha was sleeping soundly in her pusher and Nicola stood at the stern of the boat, watching the water flow around. Her daughter's total silence concerned her and she wondered what she had remembered in that cold stone building, the brickwork similar to that in which she had spent her first few years of life, without the comforts she enjoyed today.

Watching the slightly built girl, Abby knew she'd just have to bide her time. Nicola would talk when she was ready. If she pushed, she'd only get all the more determined not to tell her mother what the problem was. Giving in to the heaviness of her eyes for a moment, Abby enjoyed the roll of the water beneath her feet. Opening her eyes again, she found her daughter sitting precariously on the edge of the stern.

"Nicola. Get down before you fall in," Abby called out in concern and watched her daughter reluctantly climb down the white rails.

Closing her eyes again, she thought about the past few weeks since they had moved. Things had been quiet and it looked like she would be able to move on, free from any of the insinuations which had hung over their heads in Melbourne.

A scream broke through the air followed by a heavy splash. A young man stood at the stern where Nicola had been moments before, his thin arms outstretched as if trying to reach for someone. It had been her daughter's scream; a scream of terror and fear.

"Oh shit! Nicola!" Abby ran to the edge of the ferry, kicking off her sandals as she spoke. "Get them to stop the ferry. Now! My daughter's fallen overboard."

Balancing crudely on the edge, Abby spied her daughter flailing in the deep water, and quickly performed a torpedo dive to get her to her daughter's side before she succumbed to the depths. Her mind kept churning over and over as she swum the distance from the moving ferry to where she had seen her daughter moments before. As she reached the area, she treaded the water, and found no sign of Nicola.. Diving down repeatedly, she strained to find her daughter, the salt water biting into her eyes and her lungs bursting each time she rose to the surface.

End Part 1/?